Work experience opportunities

There are a lot of opportunities for you to gain work experience/internships within the media. However, you need to always be on the lookout and be quick to apply! To start you off, here are some opportunities I know of and some links I have come across. The majority of them are for those aged 16+ but for younger students it is always good to know what opportunities will become available to you in the near future.

BFI Academy (regional)

Applications are now open! Available for 16-19 year olds. There are several academies in London. I suggest you apply to as many as possible to have a better chance of getting on. If you are successful, you will stand a better chance to get a place on the residential course which I support on. 

Mama Youth Project

This is for students who are taking a year off before university or looking to get straight into employment. Mama Youth is a fantastic company, one in which I trained at myself before doing some work for them. The training takes place at Sky where you make a TV programme which is also broadcast on Sky 1. Great way to get a credit to your name.

BBC work experience

Applications open in August

Go Think Big

They have ongoing opportunities for work experience, apprenticeships and internships.

The information below is from the Guardian website.

Guardian students
www.youthmediaagency.org.uk

You can contribute to the Guardian blogging students section of the site. Students have their say on the pressing issues of student life, from fees to face time, from deadlines to distractions. It’s free to join Guardian students, and when you register you will get a free ebook on ‘how to blog’. There’s also a guide on how to write for the section. www.theguardian.com/education/students

Wannabe Hacks

Provides advice and tips about how to get into journalism and media, real life accounts of work placement experiences and the opportunity for reader contributions. It is aimed specifically at young people, before, during and after university.

wannabehacks.co.uk

Shout Out UK

An independent UK news network run by under 25s, focusing especially on political news and debate. They offer the opportunity for contributors to have their work published online, as well as one-to-one journalism tuition and political literacy courses. www.shoutoutuk.org

Youth Media Agency

Invites young people aged 16-25 to become ‘Creative Associates’; writers, journalists, graphic designers, film makers and photographers. The site offers help for young people to find opportunities and training within the media industry as well as inviting them to get involved in Youth Media events and films.

Film Review: Captain America - Civil War (2016)

Update: Nikita's review made it to review of the week on the Into Film website. Well done!

Reviewed by Nikita (A2 Media)

Although the title claims Civil War is a Captain America film, it is really another Avengers film. The large starring cast helps keep the film fresh and funny but it also means that Captain America's personal story line (his relationship with Bucky, and with his girlfriend from back then Peggy Carter) is almost entirely sidelined. This is also especially disappointing as it is the end of Cap's trilogy. If you were looking for a film about Captain America, you're not going to find it here.

The film starts with half of the Avengers on a mission that leaves an apparently large amount of civilians dead. Although nobody has cared about this before, this particular incident is enough for the government to step in and try to rein the Avengers in through the Accords, a contract that means that the Avengers' every move as superheros will be controlled by a panel of strangers. Tony Stark, feeling fresh guilt over the death of a teenager, agrees to sign it, saying that they need to be controlled. Steve Rogers notes that governments have agencies and agencies can change. It's a very interesting debate but unfortunately, the film doesn't actually spend much time on this. Instead the plot really revolves around Sebastian Stan's Bucky/The Winter Soldier - except it doesn't. Very quickly, the action is reduced to childlike arguments; they fight for the sake of fighting. 

The budget for Civil War is huge and it's clear where they've spent it. The film is packed with very impressive fight scenes (and one even more impressive scene with a young Robert Downey Jr.). While the fight scenes add little for the amount they're on screen, they are very entertaining. Oddly enough, the big fight with all of the Avengers is hilarious. That's right - hilarious. Anthony Mackie, as Sam Wilson, has witty one-liners throughout the film whilst Paul Rudd's maniacal Ant Man and Tom Holland's first appearance as wisecracking Spider Man truly elevate the fight scene in terms of humour. Their short stint in the film is also perhaps the ideal length for a superhero to appear in another superhero's film.


The truly annoying thing about this film is the potential it had as a solo Captain America movie and how entertaining it was despite that. Am I still annoyed at the lack of focus on Captain America? Of course. Is it still funny and worth your money? Unfortunately so.

Mean Girls Election 2017

Someone clearly has a lot of time on their hands. This is far too funny not to share. I hope that all of you who are 18 are ready to use your vote. Make your voice count.

Revision Guides - April 2017

Shiny updated revision guides, just for you. Download them to view offline on your phones/tables/computers and print out a copy too so you can highlight/annotate to aid your revision.  

Don't say I don't treat you to nice thinks. Enjoy! 😆

GCSE: Action Adventure

GCSE: TV Comedy

iMedia: Pre-Production

AS: TV Drama

A2: Section A (1b)

A2: Section B Media & Collective Identity (British Youth)

BTEC: Unit 8 - Industry in Context

Free Mac apps

Apple are making software, that we regularly use in media studies, available for FREE! Both iMove and Garageband, along with some other apps, are now available to download on and Mac operating systems and mobile devices. Get downloading.

Economic realities behind the film industry

Download and listen to the podcasts by Mark Kermode. Good for your general knowledge of the funding of the film industry and may also be helpful for AS students - section B of the exam.

Mark Kermode Podcasts

Beyond the Blade

Beyond the Blade is a project, set up by The Guardian, attempting to uncover the way that knife crime is reported in the British press and how young people and children are being represented. It aims to learn more about the victims themselves rather than the assailants. Surprisingly, there are no public records of the number of children and teenagers killed due to knife crime in Britain. Why is this? 

• Are there more crimes being committed than we are aware of?
• Is it just youth committing these crimes against other youth?
• Who decides which deaths and crimes are "worthy" of being reported? 
• Does it need to be reported more to create an awareness or less so that it doesn't appear glamourised? 
• Does the ethnicity, gender, location and social background of the child effect the representation?
• What impact, if any, do these representations have on society?

Read this article which tries to explain some of the questions posed above and highlights some of this year's tragic loss of life. Within 3 months there have already been 9 deaths. Two of these are from London - Brent to be precise.